I could not find a better place to start this topic than here.

We're all crazy about using miles & points on travel, What other tips and tricks do you know and can share?
I'm thinking of stuff beyond 'how to pack' and more of great websites and ideas on how to score a better room, how to get into town from the airport, etc.

Doug

hi doug,

Thanks for starting this thread..good idea.

By reviewing the sites below and a few others daily the last 2+ yrs had led to Ida and I accumulating over 2.5 million points/miles.
We have not bought an airplane ticket in three years and when flying to Europe, the Middle East, India or Asia we fly FC for
5-15% of the revenue cost.

http://www.frugaltravelguy.com/

http://boardingarea.com/blogs/onemileatatime/

http://boardingarea.com/blogs/viewfromthewing/

http://boardingarea.com/blogs/pointsmilesandmartinis/

http://boardingarea.com/blogs/aadvantagegeek/

http://dansdeals.com/

http://www.flyertalk.com/

http://boardingarea.com/blogs/loyaltytraveler/ (best site for hotel deals)

http://millionmilesecrets.com/

http://thepointsguy.com/

For best limo service in Atlanta, pls ck:

http://www.actionlimousines.com/?ut...m_campaign=SURPRISE&utm_medium=email

hope this helps,

r/wes

Great info, Wes! I've been subscribing to many of these sites for some time now, thanks to you.

Wes, I am looking for cheap parking by ATL. Any recommendation for three weeks of parking for a great rate?

Wes is definitely a Points Guru!!!! You and Ida know how to go in style.

Marc, I don't know about ATL, but at RDU, I've spent the night at the Holiday Inn Express, park my car there for extended trips and have them shuttle me to the airport and back. She what might be available in ATL. Also some hotels will let you park for pay while you are out of the country.

And do it most cost-effectively!

Wes, that's a great list of sites, thanks for posting them!

http://www.cheapairportparking.org/ has great parking selections at several airports. Marc, sorry ATL isn't on the list.
Jim

Thanks Denise, Karen, Beth--really have a long way to go/learn to become a guru--but we try very hard :)

Marc,

Since we live in metro Atlanta when we take these long (3 wk+ cruises) it becomes a better value to take a limo to the airport (about $140), link:

http://actionlimousines.com/

versus Park & ride venues (about $179)

HOwever, you could park at either the Atlanta Airport Marriott ($108) free airport shuttle...have not tried this before, but cheapest price I've found. For most options, incl the Airport Marriortt (cheapest) next is $140, just plug in your three week window
at link below.

http://www.bestparking.com/atlanta-airport-parking/

Wow Wes - 2.5 million miles! Looks like you've found a new career - we will all look forward to your tips and links.

Thanks Leslie, but like Cruise Critic and LCT, collecting miles & points is a just a hobby with wonderful $$value vs the psychic value I get from posting on CC and here.

Our miles accumulation principal funding mechanism is the many different credit cards we churn for bonuses (like BA Visa 3x (between Ida and me) for 100K BA miles per churn, AMX-Plat (100K mR for Ida last year, only 25K for me this year) and many others. However, a close second is the tip I got from Gary Leff to use Bank Direct..we get 20K AA miles per month with our checking account.

Also, learned as we began this pursuit (with the pre cruises we take) we needed to also accumulate hotel points (e.g. there is a good Carlson promo now for one nite stay at Radisson will net you 50K points (good for a one nite stay at the very nice Rad Blu properties worldwide) Am doing what we call a mattress run next Tuesday at a nearby Atlanta Country Inn and Suites..for $63 one night stay will earn 44K carlson points. Also, we have churned multiple Hilton (AMX, Chase) credit cards where Ida and I now have close to 230K Hilton points..am now working on two credit cards (Bank of America Hawaiin, and Bank of Hawaii) that will soon net us another 140K hilton points. For our next churn (we do this every ninety days) we will get these cards for Ida and have over half a million hilton points. Min cost (annual credit card fee) just need to have excellent credit.

Finally, if you do not have the Hyatt Visa Signature card, for just the annual credit card fee, you earn two nights at any Hyatt resort in the world. For example, we stayed at the Grand Hyatt in Bangkok and Hongkong last year on my Hyatt visa award nites. And two months ago we stayed two nites at the Grand Hyatt Dubai (got upgraded to club suite) for the cost of Ida's Hyatt Visa ($75)...Strongly recommend folks sign up for this super hotel bennie.

I would say that www.flyertalk.com is probably the most comprehensive. www.milepoint.com is well on its way - still a lot smaller but a lot friendlier.

Wes, how have you found Bank Direct? I was going to do that but they charge a monthly fee of something like $14 now. Another one that wasn't mentioned is Fidelity - if you don't currently have an account with them, you can open an account through a link and get 50,000 AA or United miles if you fund it with $100,000 (you can withdraw almost immediately) and if you do it right you can also get 50,000 Delta miles for the same funding.

I would agree that credit card signup bonuses is the best game in town now for points / miles.

For the Carlson (Radisson, Country Inn & Suites, Park Inn) promotion - I'm doing it to transfer the points out to AA miles (effective cost is $0.008 / mile).

Hi Peter,

We like Bank Direct (have been with them for over three years, first 2 1/2 yrs were fee free until this Jan) and we originally got 40K AA miles per month, but throttled back our deposits once AA entered bankruptcy. The $14 monthly fee is now modestly painful but the 240K AA miles we earn yearly eases the modest pain enough to keep our BD accounts open.

We also opened and closed numerous Fidelity and TD ameritrade equity accountsfor Delta and AA bonuses.

Peter, thanks for the Carlson tip--will now consider our pts for AA miles.

btw, speaking of Guru's there is no one I know who knows Hyatt better than Peter, now Peter is absolutely the top Hyatt Guru!

Lol - thanks - that comes from being the babysitter for the Hyatt forum on Flyertalk for 9 years. Oh and to comment on the Hyatt credit card - yes the sign up bonus is 2 nights in any Hyatt in the world - plus if you retain the card, there is an annual benefit of one free nights in a property up to Category 4 (which does include some decent properties although not the absolute top ones).

I'll keep BD in mind - I'm really chasing AA miles as long as they are in oneworld (even though I think the "merger" with USAirways is a done deal - they'd probably stay in oneworld rather than go over to Star) for redemptions on Cathay First for my trips to Bangkok.

my hero

For you OneWorld flyers:

Here is an interesting article about how to use British Air mile (avios) on Iberia without incurring the high BA fuel surcharges. He points out that your Iberia account must be open for 3 months in order to transfer BA miles over to Iberia so I am registering us now.

Thanks, Leslie!

I signed up for my Iberia account today!

Well, after getting the United card & the bonus points, we found out that we would have to endure the awful experience of flying United. Even a few of the flight attendants have voiced complaints about the level of service (Granted, these were former Continental people).
Well, the points can always help, and I shall keep the card even after the free year expires because we will need to travel with them often enough for the baggage fees to offset the credit card charge.

My question...and I do have one.(lol)
Got an email from American for 35,000 miles after a $1,500 spend within 3 months. Is this the best deal around?

Thanks..... Doug

Doug, I have flown business/first (domestic) since the merger and it wasn't too bad. Other than the plane we were on was old, the service was just like it was before the merger. I think they even still do the fresh baked cookies (which I have a sneaking suspicion that those are just like those Pillsbury break apart and bake cookies)

Doug, at first link below is good summary of best deals available now (airline, hotel).

http://millionmilesecrets.com/hot-deals/

I did #12 early May, the 70K Hawaiin miles posted by mid June, now waiting for my 140K hilton miles to post--soon, we're going to book Hilton London Tower for our Silversea Cloud voyage, London Tower to Reykjavik, back to London Tower next July.

Also, today's hot deal is the AMX Biz Gold card, earn 75K MR points with 10K spendvwithing 4 months (i.e., time your app when a final payment is due) but if you're going to apply, need to act before June 26th.

http://thepointsguy.com/

Doug - can't you use the bonus miles on Star Alliance partners?

Leslie: Yes, of course, we will use the miles!

Wes: great site! Thanks!

Doug

I have been flying United economy on business trips within the US. I have had one awful experience after another. Overbookings, mechanical issues....just dreadful. The service has been ok and the planes ok (when they work). The stewards and stewardesses and ground crew are embarrassed and apologize. I don't fault them. However, the behind the scenes processes are not working well. There were a number of flights today to NYC. I couldn't get on an early flight a week ago because they were booked, so I booked a later flight. The earlier flights became available. I wasn't allowed to either transfer over without a hefty upcharge or even go standby, even though there were empty seats.

Then, they cancelled two flights because of mechanical issues to NY and there were 37 standbys for our flight. Then our flight had a mechanical issue that postponed our flight 90 minutes.

Every time I fly them, they are overbooked. No other airline I fly has this degree of issues.

I'm with you regarding United, Andy --we've had terrible experiences (mainly old, poorly maintained planes and surly crew)on United and now refuse to fly that airline.

I was so sad when United gobbled up Continental, as I had fairly good experiences on Continental (not always, but most of the time - certainly more often than on United!!).

It was Continental that bought United but they kept the United name. The website is the Continental website as well as all the frequent flyer account numbers are the old Continental ones.

Sorry - I stand corrected!

Yes, I did keep my Continental number and had points combined. But it seems things may be drifting more toward the United way of doing business.

I was traveling in South America when the official switchover happened. It was a nightmare! Our flight down was a Continental flight. The return, although originally booked as a Continental flight, was converted (at the midnight bewitching hour) to a United flight number ... our reservations were totally lost in cyberspace.

Regardless of who bought who, I'll miss Continental.

There were a lot of problems right at the combination date and apparently there are still quite a few problems.

I still miss the Delta pre merger with Northwest.

Me too.

I think that is the main problem: Continental & United are two very different beings trying to live in the same body.
And, of course, they have reduced the incentive to reach the first FF level, which I almost tried to do.

Doug

The next probable merger/takeover..... US Airways taking over American Airlines will probably even be worse based on the current US Airways record (America West took over US Airways 4-5 years ago) and still have not totally merged the operations seamlessly. At least my prediction is that the surviving name will be American Airlines with the existing Aadvantage program and remain in oneWorld rather than the combined remaining in StarAlliance.

sadly, Peter, I think that you are right.

Doug

For those of us who live in DFW, we'd like American to stay as is--we love the One World direct connections we get and the Aadvantage program is the best one out there according to polls. I see absolutely no advantage for them to merge with USAir other than the ability to say they're a bigger airline. We'll see what happens, but if there has to be a change make it an improvement rather than a downgrade!!!

I'm with you Peggy. I love American and the One World Alliance connections, and have found the Aadvantage Program the absolute easiest to work with.

Peggy & Cindy - if the USAirways / American combination does take place, I would bet that there would not be that much of an effect on DFW (the closest USAirways hub is Phoenix currently). Aadvantage program is actually the most profitable part of AMR (the holding company for American) so I don't think that would change either. I also don't see the combination going to StarAlliance and would stay with oneWorld since USAirways is kind of the stepchild airline in the US for Star (principal one being United/Continental) and oneWorld would be left without an airline in the US otherwise.

But I'm sure that there would be problems in integrating the operations.

I'm not sure that AMR executives will actually have final say in the matter since AMR is in bankruptcy.

Switching gears:

Whenever we go out to our place in AZ, after we nail down the air portion, the car rental is the next hurdle. There have been times when they wanted to charge me more for a week's tiny car rental than the airfare! (I mean tiny! Think clown car!)

Over time I have found these to work best:
Priceline. Yes, it can save money, but you really have to do some research before bidding and expect to bid again and again. If you have the time, it can work. Just always have a back-up plan.
Hotwire: this has been my favorite for a while. generally, very good prices, but you don't know who the rental company is and you get no airline miles unless you use an airline card. (same w/ Priceline) They have been my go-to until this next trip!

Early on, Hotwire had a great deal on a SUV. I didn't need a SUV, but the deal was so good.... By the time I had my air nailed down, the SUV deal was gone & everything was overpriced! Very overpriced!

So, off to Costco.com. Yes, they have travel stuff! I found a car (compact) for $20 less than the Hotwire SUV deal but about $175 better than I could find anywhere else. AND they won't hit the credit card until I sign at the counter! So worth the annual fee!

Just my experience & I wanted to share. Have any of you found the best way to rent cars?

BTW, many of you know that I run a web site (Shelterdoggies.com) where we raise money for animal shelters. I am happy to tell you that Hotmail has just agreed to partner with us. What that means is that starting next week, if you visit Hotwire via the link at Shelterdoggies.com, we will get a small commission on whatever you buy. Animal shelters will benefit.
But, as you can see from the above, you have to shop!

good luck! Doug

Doug, I checked rental cars the HEEHAW the other day and was surprised at the low the rates were. My United Presidental card gives me a free membership with Avis Presidents club so I get a 2 category upgrade for free. So I get the subcompact price of $51 ($48 if you pay upfront) for a rental of Friday to Monday. Then I get upgraded to an intermediate size car so that's about $16 a day. I am not sure what you consider a good price?
You might want to check all your credit cards since they all seem to have a program with rental car perks.

Good suggestion!
But, I did check everything you suggested.
It is so much a function of location and date. Clearly it is not 'one size fits all'.
Glad you got a deal. I think that we'll go w/o a car for Hee Haw.
Of course, maybe the rates were good because you were so early, or maybe they will be better when you are closer..... who the *&$@ knows? I sure don't. Find a rate you are happy with & book it! That is what I do. Sometimes I pay a bit too much, sometimes I don't.
You asked what I consider a good price: for PHX under $18 per day...then the taxes kick in! (lol) TX may be different. Heck! every place is different.
But I sure enjoy playing the game!

Best, Doug

I usually rent from National (wonder why I'm the National Forum moderator on Flyertalk). There is a list of codes that discount the rate (sometimes significantly) - my advice is to stay away from ones that include LDW (Loss Damage Waiver) since most of those are for corporate customers and if you have an accident, you may be faced with a situation that leaves you totally uncovered (by your personal auto insurance & credit card secondary coverage). Codes that I routinely use are 5007125 (generic Emerald Club code), 5125601 (AMEX), 5435776 (Travel Alternatives Group), and 8572130 (Air France / KLM Flying Blue - this one includes LDW but is safe because its for members of the frequent flyer program - just sign up to be "safe"). Combine these "discount" codes with a coupon from the list (Entertainment Book coupons are safe) or from National's own website - you're likely to get 1 day free on a 3-day weekend rental - or $20-30 off a week long rental. Furthermore, if you sign up for Emerald Club for free (see the National Forum on Flyertalk), you never have to stand in line at the airport - simply go and pick the car that you prefer from the Emerald Aisle (often upgraded cars are there) and drive to the checkout gate. Emerald Club members also earn 1 free day after every 7 rentals - save these for use on expensive rentals (one ways - or single day mid-week rentals). If you rent at least 12x a year, you get Executive status which entitles you to the Executive Selection (I rarely drive anything less than a Premium) and earn 1 free day after 6 rentals.

Feel free to ask questions if you want :)